Lullaby Haze
by Metarie
Summary: That thing that comes after love and marriage shows up and takes Gaila and Scotty by surprise. One-shot.


_**Disclaimer: Not mine.**_

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Gaila stares at Dr. McCoy. Sickbay is almost deserted - with the exception of a couple of nurses in the back, chatting away as they refill hyposprays, Gaila and McCoy are the only ones there. The lighting in the room is a cool blue, which Gaila supposes is meant to be comforting in ways that the harsh fluorescents of hospitals in days gone by were not, but these lights do nothing to stave off the panic attack she feels coming on.

"That's... that's a good one, doctor," she says, forcing herself to laugh. It sounds unnatural in her throat, like it's someone else's voice. "I almost believed you for a second, when you said that... thing about... you're a funny guy, you know that?" She tries to hop down off the examination table, but McCoy stops her.

"Gaila, it's not a joke," he says quietly. "I'm serious."

"Oh god..."

"You're pregnant."

"Oh god... don't say the P-word, please." Gaila rubs her temples, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Is there another term you'd prefer me to use?" McCoy asks sardonically.

"Uh... 'inconvenienced' works... 'handicapped' can probably be applied..."

McCoy is exasperated. "Gaila, come on now. It's not the end of the world."

"This can't be happening! I've always used protection! Usually several different kinds! And how am I supposed to be a mother on a starship? What kind of place is this to raise a kid? Oh my god," Gaila says, realizing. "What _color _is it going to be? Oh my god, oh my god..."

"Look, calm down. Do you need a mild sedative?"

"NO I don't need a sedative! Wouldn't that be bad for the baby? What kind of doctor are you?"

"I promise you, it would be perfectly safe - "

"I don't need it! I'm fine. I'm... I'm fine. I am," she insists. She takes a deep breath.

McCoy has seen his fair share of hysterical pregnant women, and he is not fazed by Gaila's reaction. "All right," he says. "Just relax."

Gaila takes a few moments to calm herself. "What am I gonna do, doc?" she asks, bleakly.

"That's up to you, of course," says McCoy, eying her carefully.

"Oh, no, that's not what I - I mean, I'm keeping it," Gaila says hurriedly. "It's just... this changes everything, right? Our lives will never be the same. We'll hardly have any time alone anymore when it's born... our sex life will virtually die off..." She stops, clapping a hand over her mouth. "Oh my god, what is wrong with me? Listen to me! My body is busy right now building a tiny little... light green person who one day will come out of me and I'm going to have to take care of it for the next couple of decades and all I can think about is how much Scotty and I will be able to have sex with each other after it's born..." Gaila feels tears form at the corner of her eyes. "I'm so... so fucking _shallow! _How am I supposed to be a mother if I'm so _vapid?"_

McCoy shifts uncomfortably. "Well, you have plenty of time to, ah, prepare yourself... an Orion female gestation period is roughly ten months - "

"Ten months, fucking hell, that's almost a year of being pregnant, I can't even... I don't know if I can do this..." The last word of this sentence is almost a squeak because she's crying, trying to hold it in but crying anyway. She presses her palms to her cheeks fruitlessly. "What's happening to me? I'm never this emotionally unbalanced... is this the hormones or something? Are they kicking in already?"

"That... has been known to be a side effect of pregnancy..."

Gaila's mind is spinning crazily, and she realizes she doesn't even really remember her own parents. She'd been raised in a tribal commune, and while human children were in elementary and middle and high school she was learning about things no elementary, middle or high school student should be forced to learn until they were ready. But it was all she had known for so long, that when she finally got onto a ship and managed to get out she could scarcely believe there was another way for women to live. After that trip she'd been angry and had made that fact known to the leaders of her tribe, telling them in no uncertain terms that she was absolutely not going to be forced into any kind of sexual slavery, thank you very much. They let her leave, dishonored of course, permanently disavowed in all of their minds, telling her she was no longer welcome on her planet and that she was never going to amount to anything now that she'd chosen a different life. And it was all she'd thought about since then, proving them wrong - and look, here she was, on the _Enterprise_, crawling around in the inner workings of this beautiful ship she loved so dearly, and she was with a man who understood that better than anyone. But now she was pregnant, and where did that fit in her perfect life?

To McCoy's and Gaila's mutual great relief, Scotty chooses that moment to walk through the Sickbay door. "Hey, you okay? I just got your message - "

Gaila jumps off the table and rushes to Scotty, throwing her arms around his neck and clinging to him. She bursts into tears, which Scotty finds somewhat overwhelming.

"What is it? Gaila, what's wrong?" He gently disentangles her arms and pulls them down, leaning back to look at her tear-stained face. "Are you all right? Are you sick?"

She shakes her head, sobbing, and she hates that she can't stop.

"What, then? Gaila... you're scaring me."

"Oh, Scotty..."

_"What?"_

"I'm pregnant," she blurts out, and the act of saying it, the P-word, getting it out of her and sharing it with him, is cathartic. The sobbing stops as she watches his face, waiting for his reaction.

He freezes, staring at her, and he notices the teardrops on her eyelashes and he sees that she is holding her breath, waiting for him to say something, and he knows she is probably disappointed when all he can think of is, "Oh."

Scotty looks at McCoy, who is standing arms crossed by the exam table, watching them. "Really?" he asks.

"She's about two months along," McCoy answers.

He looks back at Gaila. "Oh," he says.

McCoy rolls his eyes. "I'll be in my office," he tells them, but they don't hear him, or notice when he leaves.

Gaila takes a deep, shuddering breath, sniffling a little. "What are we going to do? I mean... how are we going to have a kid, here?"

"Well... people do it, don't they? I've seen kids on ships before... bloody hell, I'd've loved to grow up on one..."

"But we both work, we both have important jobs here... how are we supposed to take care of a baby AND a starship at the same time? What if they reassign us because we have a kid? They do that sometimes...!"

"Shh, shh, there's no way," Scotty says, firmly. "The captain would never let that happen. Don't even think that."

"But Starfleet usually reassigns parents to planet-based operations... research outposts or deep space stations, or... and I just can't do that, Scotty, I can't not be on a starship. I have to be moving, I have to be... I can't leave the _Enterprise_, I just can't."

"Well, even if they made us leave, we would be back within weeks. This ship would just fall apart without us."

Gaila gives him a weak smile. "You're right about that."

They look at each other for a few quiet moments. Gaila thinks how grateful she is for this man, who knows exactly what to say to make her feel better even when he probably doesn't realize he's doing it. Scotty is trying to stay calm because he doesn't want Gaila to start crying again and also because he just discovered that he is apparently going to become a father in a matter of months and, bloody hell, that's sort of terrifying, isn't it?

"So," says Scotty.

"Yeah," says Gaila.

"A baby," says Scotty.

"Yeah," says Gaila.

"A little person."

"Yeah."

"Growing inside you."

"Ugh..."

"Do you think we can do it?" Scotty asks suddenly. He remembers how his parents were barely present in his life, how his mother resented her oldest child for leaving them and how his father had always been closer to his brother and sister... their interests had tended more towards planet-side occupations, as opposed to his almost desperate desire to get himself into a ship and out into space. His parents had bragged to their friends that they had a brilliant son but it was all he was good for - they had nothing to talk about with him, and so he got away as soon as he could. His last interaction with them had been when he called them after graduating from the Academy - he'd spoken with his mother for a few minutes, long enough to tell her he'd been at the top of his class. His mother said his father wasn't home, but Scotty could always tell when she was lying.

How was he supposed to know what to do with a child of his own? He had nothing to go on. He had no manual for this. "Do you think we can be good parents?"

Gaila bites her lip, looking up at him. "Do you?"

Scotty rubs the back of his neck. "I... well, I don't know. I think so, maybe," he says. "We'll find out, I guess... right? I mean... you do want to have it, right?" He hadn't considered that possibility, and he is suddenly nervous.

"Oh, well, yes," says Gaila quickly. "I didn't even think about... you know. Not really. Yes, I'm going to have it. I want to have it. You want to have it, don't you?"

"Yes! Yes, I do," says Scotty, feeling relieved.

"Okay," says Gaila, smiling slowly.

"Okay," says Scotty.

"So... we're having a kid," says Gaila, giggling a little before catching herself. She's still in shock. It doesn't quite feel real. "Who would have thought? Us, parents?"

"Probably nobody," says Scotty, taking her hand as they walk out of Sickbay.

"I'm all about surprising people," Gaila says, and she smiles a genuine and excited smile for the first time since receiving this now not unwelcome news. She is still wary about the future, but she can't stop herself from imagining how wonderful it might be.

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_**A/N: I am just on a roll lately... this one is my favorite right now though. :) Thanks for reading.**_


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